Monday, May 19, 2014

Dave Kellet is an art from Southern California. For his Bachelor’s degree, he went to the University of Notre Dame, where he got a degree in English and Spanish. While he was getting his B.A, he was working on a webcomic called Four Groups of the Apocalypse. He then went on to get a Master’s in Literature. His thesis was: "To draw in the crowd : the cartoon and the 'public sphere' of eighteenth-century England." He then got a Master's in the history of cartoon art propaganda from the University of Canterbury, England.

Dave Kellet original plan was to make comics for newspapers. He intended to be a traditional cartoonist. He soon found out that the newspaper comics were not only not letting in many new cartoonists, but they were also on their way to dying. So Kellet decided to start a webcomic and see if he could make a living off of it. Currently, he is making as much as he would in a traditional job, so his wife doesn't have to support him.

Dave Kellet's work is simplistic in nature. He uses as few lines as possible to convey a message (which usually happens to be a joke). Kellet's characters are the sort that you expect to see in a newspaper. The way that they are designed immediately tells you something about the character. For instance, Gramps has a mustache, a bald head, and a big belly. It's easy to tell that he's old and that he likes sweeties a little too much. Sheldon is small, has big glasses, and slightly baggy clothes. He is obviously a child, intelligent, and nerdy. His clothes suggest that he outgrew his clothes one time too many so that Gramps decided to cut out the middle man. He just got Sheldon clothes he would grow into instead of out of. Flaco's large eyes suggest intelligence, that he's no ordinary lizard.

In his work, Kellet primarily uses black ink. This gives his pieces a strong, contrasting feel. The characters and scenery are easily distinguishable from the background. His lines have variable thickness. The generally start out thick at one end, then taper off. His edges consist of more than one line. This gives his pieces a softer, scratchier feel. It makes it a bit easier to relate to his work. His characters seem softer and cartoonier.

His compositions will generally center around 1-3 characters. His layout varies, but there are two main methods of composition that he uses. The arrangement that he most often uses places one character on either side of a panel with empty space in between. Since most of his characters are short, they will be placed at or just below the horizon. When he includes a taller character, like Gramps, the contrast between the larger character above the horizon and the smaller one below th horizon gives your eyes a path to follow. This transition from short character to large character (or vise versa) gives space for the characters' speech bubbles. If the focus of the conversation is on the shorter character, the shorter character will generally be on the right. If the focus is on the larger character, the reverse will be true.
Even if the characters are both about the same size, as in the case of Sheldon and his best friend, Dante, one will be made to appear larger than the other. Kellet has pushed the character in towards the viewer, making the closer character the focus and making him seem more frantic. He has also had the characters involved in activities that will set one higher than the other. For instance, Dante might be on a swing, while Sheldon is below him. To direct the viewer's focus to one character, in this instance, Kellet will have one character doing an activity, while the character that's the focus will only be talking or gesticulating. The 'silent' character gives the viewer a place to put himself in. This is similar to how, in Hindu art, Brahma would be put into a painting that he seems to have no place in. This would give the viewer an entrance, like he was standing right next to Brahma. A similar technique was used in Chinese Tang Dynasty painting. There would be small people at a point in the painting to allow the viewer to 'walk into' the landscape.

The second method of composition that Dave Kellet uses is the well-known 'rule of thirds.' He will use this pyramid style of composition most frequently in a single panel composition. He'll have a large amount of white space at the top, making the piece seem lighter. If he didn't do this, the text at the top of the piece would feel top heavy. This would distract the viewer from the piece as a whole. By having the white space mixed with the text on top, and the characters at the base, it keeps the piece well balanced.

Dave Kellet's doesn't use colour in all of his pieces. Mostly, he relies on the dark lines to divide up one chunk of white space from the other. When he does use colour, he uses pale, soft colours. This maintains the light-hearted, cartoony feel of the comic set up by the sketchy lines. Mostly, Kellet uses flat colours. His use of shading is sparse. The shading that he does is usually to define bulges or folds. His shading is a neutral gray. His shading is rendered as a solid colour, not cross-hatched or stipled. This continues to maintain the soft feel and keeps the pieces from feeling sketchy or rough.
The texturing that Kellet uses in his pieces is generally simple, coordinating with the rest of his composition. He'll use clean patterns, like the plaid pattern of some of Gramp's pants. In the case of Kellet's texturing, the lines will be solid, unlike the sketchy lines he uses in defining the edges of his figures. Sometimes, he will use short lines or dots. This is the case in some of the alien characters in his comic Drive.

All of his pieces are narrative. Each piece tells a story or defines a clear idea. Usually, he will do this with words, but he can also use the poses of the characters and the scene they are in. While the characters are the main way that Kellet communicates his narrative, his background is also an importan element. The sort of background that Kellet uses is typically simple and clean, like rest of his comic. His background can be black, with a skewed square in the center around the characters. Another background may be entirely white. He will use this to emphasize what a character is communicating. For instance, when Arthur is telling another character about an idea or concept he has come across, the white space will emphasize the franticness or conviction that Arthur is experiencing. In some cases, Kellet may even use scenery as a background. He will depict trees, bushes, chairs, tables, or other inanimate objects. His scenery will often be sparse, like his colours. He will only use enough scenery to get across where the characters are.

Dave Kellet is an artist that you could call a minimalist. He only uses what he needs, with nothing extra to distract from the story he is telling. His use of clean and simple lines and colours allows the viewer to focus on the story being conveyed. His backgrounds emphasize the character of interest, making the narrative easier to follow. Kellet is a master of using the simple to the utmost advantage, and that's why I love his work.

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Recently, at the Auburn 'The Arts Building Gallery,' Kellen Dyer, a contemporary artist, displayed some of his work. According to the Placer Arts 360 website, Dyer "grew up in Placerville, CA. He graduated from Chico State with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting." Most of his pieces focus on sleep and sleep disorders, such as sleep paralysis.

The gallery didn't allow many photographs of the artist's work, but I was able to get a picture of the set up for this blog. The gallery had coloured walls in a neutral gray which allowed the pieces to stand out, but not be overpowering. The mixed lighting of natural light and incandescent was a nice combination. The gray, cloudy light on the day I went emphasized the dream-like quality of Dyer's pieces.

Photo from Placer Arts 360

Dyer's pieces were done in a way that I've never seen before. They were acrylic painted on canvas with paper, wood, and metal. In the case of this piece on the right, the acrylic on canvas painting of the woman is set on top of a bed of crinkled, crumpled, torn paper that spills on to the floor of the gallery. The figure almost appears to be sinking into the paper, unable to wake herself to escape.

I found this exhibition pretty interesting. I didn't know that you could do so much with mixed media. The bounds of contemporary art are indeed limitless. An artist is free to use any medium to express himself/herself and may expand off of the traditional two dimensional canvas into the three dimensional world that we live in.

Monday, May 12, 2014

At Sac State, I was able to listen to a lecture by one of the most interesting artists with the funniest 'origin story' that I have ever heard. Richard Turner had been a lawyer for 50 years when he decided that he needed a break. He said that he told his wife "I'll be back in a month," then took off in his car with no particular plans in mind. Along the way, he picked up a disposable camera, figuring that it might be good to have photos to looks at after he came back home. While he was out travelling, he came across a great, majestic moose in a lake, minding it's own business. Richard felt compelled to take pictures of the beast, of course.

After he had come back from his trip, he showed some of his photos to a professional photographer that he knew. The photographer looked at them and proclaimed them terrible, touristy photos. I believe it was the same photographer that Richard asked to teach him how to be a better photographer. The man declined, saying that he didn't teach one-on-one. Richard, being a fairly wealthy lawyer at the time, made the photographer an offer he couldn't refuse. Mostly because it wsa a tremendous amount of money. Richard was a well-known, expensive lawyer who had a good history, so his rates were very high. He told the photographer that he would pay him the same amount that he, Richard, made in an hour. The photographer happily accepted Richard's offer.

Richard had spent 50 years as a lawyer. It wasn't until he discovered photography that he felt like he was really having fun with life. His overarching theme can be summed up by the question he began his talk with:

Are we going to survive?

Or are we going to appreciate the time we have now and make the most of it?

When I think of Colfax, I don't think of it as being a cultural center in any sense of the word. Someone once told me that Colfax was declared 'The Most Boring Town in the USA.' And yet, this is the town that I've spent 17 years of my short life in.

According to the Amaryllipedia, Colfax is a town halfway between Sacramento and Reno. It has a population of maybe 5000 (which may include stray dogs). Colloquially, it is known as Loserville. But, inspite of its many flaws, Colfax is located in beautiful, quiet part of the Sierra Nevada foothills. It is right next to the north fork of the American River and many scenic hiking trails. And, as of the last 1-3 years, it's home to a branch of the Placer County Art Walk. Every second Friday, local (and non-local) contemporary artists put their work up for display for everyone to enjoy. This last Friday (9 May '14) was the first time I got to enjoy it.

My first stop was the little art boutique and co-op where I got to meet artist Barbara Hoffman. Her art is created by a compatriate and herself. She'll have the other artist paint, draw, or otherwise create a small canvas piece. She will then create a larger piece that coordinates with the smaller piece. She either follows the same theme, or she incorporates the smaller piece into her work.My next stop was to the City Hall. I was able to see some beautiful watercolour on canvas paintings by Marcel Bombola. Her pieces focus around scenery, mostly flora, and flower arrangements. The use of light in her pieces is a wonderful effect, making the scene seem ethereal and dream-like. Her style is very painterly, but very organized. The next five pictures are of her work.

My final stop at the Colfax Art Walk was at the Cider House. The photographer Dave Keyes was displaying his pieces on the walls over the wine bottles. I think his pieces were the most amazing photographs I have ever seen. They were not standard, artistic photographs, although the subjects were unoriginal. These photos were processed through at least 5 photo-editing programs, resulting in pictures that looked painterly and impressionistic, rather than like still-life photography. I would have liked to have taken better pictures to show you, but the artist was uncomfortable enough as it was with my room shot. All the same, the photographs were something to behold.

Sunday, May 11, 2014

A little while ago, I got the opportunity to listen to a lecture by an engineer artist, Jim Cambell. He's had pieces shown in the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art, in the Smithsonian, the Crocker, and many others. His work is all video and interactivity based.

In the lecture he gave, he told us about his early explorations in art and how his pieces developed as his experience grew. His earlier pieces focused around interactive video. He tried to convey to the viewers what people with mental illness experienced. He had cameras set up to catch the viewers, then the piece would superimpose pre-generated segments of video on the live footage. These pieces posed problems, since the viewers couldn't get past the 'Look! It's me!' reaction to the videos. He fixed this by taking away the immediate feedback in the video.

Among his early, but better developed pieces, he began to make anti-interactive art. He based his works on Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. In short, the principle states that nothing exists purely: it can be affected by you and others.

Image from http://bridell.com/blog/

His latest work (and his most interesting work, in my opinion) involves huge matrices of lights, either LED or bulb. The piece relies on the viewer's mind to fill in the blanks, as it were. The basic idea behind these pieces is that our mind can interpret an abstract, moving image as a moving person. The matrices of lights were generally simple, with 50-100 lights at the low end. But even with so few lights, an image can be produced that the human mind can interpret. Campbell found that it was easier for the viewer to tell what was going on if they stood farther away, or if he put a diffuser screen over the matrix.

A picture of a flu-inflicted Amaryllis with otherparticipants.

After the lecture, I was able to ask Cambell a question. I asked, "We don't generally think of engineers as being artists. What got you interested in art?" He responded that he went to MIT to get his degree in engineering and, while he was there, got into film and video. He said that MIT is a very neurotic school and that he would have gone crazy if he didn't find some sort of balance. Art was what he needed. Over the course of 25 years, he progressed from working in Silicon Valley to becoming a widely recognized artist.

Over all, the lecture was very interesting and informative. I feel like I had a greater appreciation for this type of art, since I enjoy working with electronics just as much as paint. It gave me some interesting ideas that I hope to use in my work, whether it be for entertaining the masses as my robots take over the world, or if it just stimulates the mind of a few intellectuals and art connoisseurs.

Thursday, May 8, 2014

The space that the exhibition was set in was small, but well utilized. The organization of the pieces was utilitarian, as was the colour of the walls and the lighting. The labeling of the pieces, however was not orthodox, nor were the pieces they had on display. My favorite of the pieces displayed was the one that I am contemplating in the accompanying pictures, which made a reference to Haim Steinbach, another contemporary artist. According to the Codex website, "This project evolved from a collective inquiry which, given the fanatical desire to digitize every book, was based on the premise the library has now been “flattened.” The codex (book or block of wood in Latin), which first appeared during the Roman Empire between the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, was the earliest form of a bound book." (http://wattis.org/exhibitions/codex) In the exhibition, all of the pieces had the theme of books. Each one either represented a book, through photograph or drawing, or through a physical book, in the case of my favorite piece. Even the layout of the exhibition suggests books, with the two walls on either side acting like an open book and the wall set behind like the content of the book behind the pages, waiting to capture your imagination. Even the dark hallways leading to the exhibits in the back of the Wattis seem to suggest the possibilities of books that we can't see unless we explore.

The white walls of the exhibition are austere, like you'd expect to see in an art classroom, they are effective. The white walls really allow you to focus on the pieces displayed. There are no bright colours to distract you. The white walls suggest to me the blank white pages of a book. Like in a book, the white is there only as a surface for the content: the words. In the case of the Codex exhibition, the white is the surface for the many pieces.

The pieces of the exhibition are arranged in a manner similar to the Salons that displayed Rococo art. There are layers of art, each stacked one on top of the other. Although each piece seems to be equally important in this exhibit, it makes me wonder. In the Salons of the 16th and 17th centuries, the pieces that the curators least wanted you to see were placed at the very top. It makes me wonder if that was the intent of these curators. More likely, though, they were just utilizing what little space they had in the small Wattis building. It’s possible that the curators arranged the pieces this way to carry over the common theme of the Codex exhibition: the pieces are stack like books on a shelf.

The lighting in the exhibition was predominantly natural. The large glass windows behind the viewer as they look at the pieces project the light that allows the viewer to see. There was also light bulb lighting in the exhibition. Because the pieces weren’t paintings made of a delicate, easily destructible medium, the lights were bright, allowing you to see the pieces easily. Also, the light was a nice, yellow, warm light, not an unnatural fluorescent light that would have conflicted with the natural light from the windows. My biggest complaint about the lighting was that, if you weren’t positioned just right, you would get reflections on the glass over the pieces. I found it a little hard to focus on the pieces and enjoy them while the reflections showed me the cars, people, and birds buzzing around outside, behind me.

Of all the things that I really loved about the exhibit, I did have one serious complaint. The pieces that I particularly liked, I could identify. There were no labels next to the pieces, so that I could see who the artists were. If there had been plaques next to the pieces, it would have been possible for me to remember another piece that they had made. It also would have made it easier for me to look up more of their work and to get a fuller appreciation of the piece that was on display. It wasn’t until after I left the exhibition that I found out that the labels for the pieces had been on the glass behind me. I have several problems with this method of labelling. The curators did try to make it easier to identify the pieces by arranging the labels in the order of the pieces on the wall and by giving a rough, thumbnail sketch next to the label. Inspite of this effort, it would have been hard to see the names and titles. The

cars, people, and birds buzzing around would be distracting and make it hard to focus. As a person with the attention span of a goldfish, I think you can see how this would be a problem for me. I suspect, though, that even someone with the patience of Job would have a difficult time reading the labels. These are the same sort of issues I ran up against when looking at the pieces themselves (as I mentioned at the tailend of the previous paragraph). Also, it’s very hard to read little, black lettering with out a contrasting background. This is the reason that books are generally printed black on white. It’s just too much of a strain to try and read anything else. For example, think of the most annoying website you’ve ever been to. It was probably built and designed by an amateur and they probably tried to define the feel of the website with a unique background. This would be great, if they didn’t superimpose words over the top of the beautiful, unique, and complex background image.

Of all the wonderful pieces on display (only a few of which I captured on photo), my favorite was a dual object piece. This piece captured my attention at first because the piece consisted of two dust covers. One dust cover, that I believe to be invented by the artist, was white. It said Haim Steinbach on the spine and 0% on the cover. The other dust cover was that of an actual, published book: Ho Bags, by Harmony Korine and Bill Saylor. Ham Steinbach, in short, is an artist that arranges objects, generally everyday object, into a certain order. Much of his work can be considered Consumerist or Pop Art, since most of the objects he uses can be purchased easily. Ho Bags is a book of visual art, the combined effort of Harmony Korine, a film makers, and Bill Saylor, a visual artist. The meaning of the piece is a bit obscure. When I analyze, it seems to be a lot more than a couple of dust cover dropped on to a frame. The piece makes reference to three contemporary artists, all of which are commercial in some respect. Haim Steinbach, as we discussed earlier, is an artist that makes Consumerist art. Bill Saylor is a visual artist who appears to be very successful. He has published multiple books, curated many exhibitions, and has participated in many more exhibitions. I would assume that he makes a decent living, which would imply that he is at least partly consumerist. Harmony Korine (very much a male, in case you were wondering), is a film director by profession. As a film director, you have to finance your films, and so have to work with those that have money. This would also imply that Korine is consumerist, at least in some respects. This would seem to indicate that the piece we ar looking at is a commentary on Consumerism, where artists, as pure as their intentions might be, get pulled into the American culture of consumerism, commodity, and economics.

Unfortunately, before I left the Codex exhibition, I did not get the name or title of the piece, for the reasons I listed above, namely because the labels were not at all obvious, even though I looked at and through the window multiple times. I did as much research on the piece as I could. I think I probably spent 12 hour scouring Google and artist review sites. This could be because the artist is not yet well know, either because he/she is new on the art scene, or because he/she intentionally keeps a low profile. If the artist is intentionally keeping a low profile, this could support my analyse of his/her piece: that it is a commentary on the consumerist nature of arts and artists. This artist could be trying to maintain his/her integrity by refusing to enter into the consumerist culture that many capable, well-intentioned artists have fallen into.

In conclusion, the Codex exhibition was a wonderful experience for me. The setup was just about perfect, inspite of some minor flaws. All of the art works presented made me think critically about books and their influence on society. In the case of my favorite piece, I was fascinated enough to try ans dissect the intended meaning. I would happily recommend the exhibition to anyone that would enjoy contemporary art, if the exhibition were still on display. This exhibition has really given me a deeper appreciation of contemporary art.

Thursday, April 24, 2014

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to visit an art gallery on campus, the Else Gallery. This gallery has several shows a semester. This particular show had several works from Hearne Pardee, all focusing on nature and buildings. The exhibit was called 'Souvenir: New Caledonia."

A lot of paintings in the gallery were very nice, although still somewhat amateurish. It was still neat to see the pieces, even though they looked as if Pardee was learning techniques and experimenting as he went. Most of the pieces looked the same, in much the same way that pieces created in a classroom environment would. While I pass these judgements as if I'm an expert on the subject, the truth is that Hearne Pardee can paint better than I can.

My biggest complaint about the gallery was that it was poorly lit. It was dim and hard to make out the details on the paintings. I realize that this is so that the paintings don't get damaged and fade, but it was still a minor frustration.

While they did have spotlights on the paintings, they were generally one above the other with only one spotlight. One piece would be well illuminated while the other was in shadow, or both would be half illuminated. Also, the drab white of the walls was so boring as to drain the liveliness from the colors of the paintings.

On the whole, the gallery was pretty good for having a student curator. The organization was decent and the pieces were very nicely rendered. It was too bad that this particular show didn't last longer; I would have liked to visit it again.

Monday, April 21, 2014

I've never been super enthused by the ideaof print making. It's always seemed like an art form that cheaters use: something that you do because you either can't draw or because you're too lazy to learn how. While this might be the case in 'Murica, I was surprised to find that printmaking is a cultured art form in Korea.

I decided that I would go to a presentation by a Korean print maker at my school, since it would be good for extra credit for my classes (even though I'm an A-B student). Little did I know that, not only would the demonstration be wildly fascinating, but the presenter was actually from Korea and only spoke Korean! It was very interesting.

The paper that they use in Korea is a mulberry paper, meaning that it has longer fibers than our cotton fiber paper. It also doesn't warp in excessive accounts of water and ink like our paper does, making it perfect for ink printing.

The Korean showed us how he carved the wood blocks for the printing. He then have us a brief demonstration on how he embosses the paper. He set the one printed sheet back against the block, like when he made the print, then he got it wet so that it would not shift around or move. He then put a light coating of glue on the paper, and laid another sheet on top of it. Now, the glue he uses isn't like the Elmers glue we use; he uses a paste: water mixed with white flour. This tour of glue will discolour and ferment over the period of six months, which can ruin a print, so he lets the glue sit that long, after which time it won't ferment any more.

After he laid the paper down on the glue, he used a stiff bristled brush too brush the paper flat, then he started tapping the paper to get the bubbles all out. He then just repeated the prices with s few more sheets of paper, and then Wyeth two thicker sheets of paper. To keep the paper from getting bubbles in the middle and to keep the edges from turning up, he then painted the edges down with glue, then goes done steps of paper around the edge.

It was all really cool. I didn't know that printmaking was such an interesting, tactile experience. After the demonstration, I went up to him and said 'thank you' in Korean. Since my grasp of Korean consists of two words, now, I had to have a translator interpret me when I said that he made me want to be a printmaker. The Korean printmaker told me that he would be working in the printmaking room until the 14th, when he would go back to Korea.

I thought it would be more worthwhile to chat with him rather than to hit the gym. It turns out that he knows a little bit of English, more than my Korean, and a bit of German. Since I know some German, that made it easier to communicate. (Thank you, daddy!) So he showed me how to tap the paper down with the brush and had me hemp him with lying the layers of paper down.

After I had helped him with that, he asked to see some of my work, so I grabbed my sketchbook for him to flip through. He liked my cartoon characters and my 'sad life of a rabbit' comic. (I think he can read more English than he can speak.) He really liked my practice Chinese ink paintings of crab grass. So much so, in fact, that he gave me a sumi ink brush and some Korean paper!

I can't believe what a great day I've had! I'm so glad that I'm finally at a real college: I would never have had an experience like this at my crappy junior college. I can't wait to get home and do some more Chinese ink painting! I ordered a Chinese ink stone earlier this week, so I'm finally going to have some decent tools to work with.

The Korean printmaking process was wildly fascinating! I really want to do it, now, but I'll probably have to wait until I have more free time.

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

This last Saturday, I saw a lecture presented by John Byck, a PhD candidate from the Institute of Fime Arts, NY University. The lecture was about how Master W with the Key's works compared with other works from the 1500s.

One of Master W's prints.

The neat thing about Master W is that his works are among the first secular (non-religious) prints. What we focused on in the lecture was the naval prints that he made, and he made about 10. Or, at least, that's all we have left. His other works are pretty fascinating, too. He made a lot of very detailed prints of architecture and ornamentation.

A Venetian print.

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In the lecture, Byck compared Master W's prints to some Venetian prints of the time. His stipulation was that Master W's prints were made first, although we really can't tell, for sure. The Venetian and Master W's prints both look very similar, both in style amd subject matter. One of my fellow participants made a fair point that Master W's prints looked distorted, as if he'd been copying the Venetian prints.

After the lecture, I was curious as to whether Master W with the Key had been commisioned by anyone or if he had had a regular patron. I asked Byck. He said that Master W had probably been in the court of Charles the Bold. Although there's no dtrong evidence that Master W was commissioned by anyone, there's a possibility that he was influenced by Charles the Bold.

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

One of Vasquez's character designs, the middle of which is a typical over-exaggerated expression.

As an artist, it's always fun to look at the work of other artists, especially the ones who's work I particularly admire. Recently, I've been looking at a lot of Jhonen Vasquez's work. He's worked on various things, most of them comic or TV related. Some of his most popular works are 'Invader Zim,' 'Johhny the Homicidal Maniac,' and 'Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja.'

"Floor Damage" by Jhonen Vasquez

Most of his work I don't care much for. His characters are generally more over-the-top than I like and drawn in a way that is intentionally gross. He also frequently over-exaggerates his characters' facial expressions when conveying an emotion. I do like his character designs for 'Randy Cunningham,' as well as his intense action pieces. My favorite of his pieces, to date, is 'Floor Damage.' I love the strong, emotional expression, the action and lines of action, the monstrosity emerging from the floor, and the loose, abstract nature of the figure.

Most of Vasquez's work has a horror feel to it, like something otherwise normal has gone terribly, terribly wrong. Most of his art, as I mentioned above, takes this to an extreme: he achieves the horror feel by deforming some main attributes as much as he possibly can. For what I feel are his better pieces, he only treads the edge of the horribly wrong and down-right ugly. Instead of over-emphasizing the character, he over-emphasizes the action. These more subtle pieces of his have been my inspiration for one of my more recent pieces. As of yet, it is untitled.

"Untitled" by Amaryllis

In my piece, I mimicked his character designs in 'Randy Cunningham' for my main character. I tried to exaggerate the action in my character to create the horror feel, then drew on the various horror movies I have seen to create a monstrosity. I don't think that I'm anything like as good of an artist as Vasquez, nor do I think my design carries the same feel as his work. I did appreciate having his work to draw on to expand my own capabilities, however. I hope to someday be as capable an artist as Vasquez, while creating far less ugly and over-done works.

Recently, I went to the Sam Francis exhibition at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento. Sam Francis is an abstract expressionist painter who was most active around 1950-80. He served in the Air Force during WWII. He was injured and hospitalized for several years before he was visited by David Park who inspired Francis to begin painting.

Image courtesy of SamFrancisFoundation.com

When I first went to see Sam Francis' exhibition, I wasn't expecting much. I'm generally not very fond of abstract art: I prefer to see the technique and artistry of art genres such as Classical, Neoclassical, Raphaelite , Baroque, or Realist. I must say that I was enchanted by Francis' work. Most of the paintings that I saw in the exhibition were from around the mid-60s to 70s. The art consisted of strong colours, separated by large white areas.

The installation was a nice one, in my opinion. The white walls and open spaces reflected the feel of the paintings. The furnishing was also simple and non-obtrusive. The paintings were mostly arranged to have one painting set next to another, with some space in between. Some of the smaller, square paintings were 'stacked' one on top of the other. As a whole, the paintings were arranged similar to the manner in which they were composed: splashes of colour and design separated by expanses of white space, which emphasized and drew attention to the focus of the piece.

The space that was used to display the paintings was sufficiently large to avoid a cramped, claustrophobic feeling. The pieces had the necessary room so that you didn't feel like you had a sensory overload. The organization of the rooms divided the pieces into the different styles that Francis used over time.

Overall, I feel that the exhibition was well laid-out: it maintained the feel of the abstract paintings and imitated the composition style. I think that 'copying' Francis' art in the design of the exhibition was the best way to emphasize his work. I also think that the paintings themselves were very nice.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Last week, I went to visit the Crocker art museum to see the current exhibition, a collection of Sam Francis' work. He's an abstract artist from the 1940s. While I'm not generally a abstract art kind of person, I have to say that Francis' work was very compelling. The bright, beautiful sprays of colour, the positioning on the canvas, everything was very nicely done. If I were to make abstract paintings, I would think that I would make them like his.

My next stop after the Sam Francis exhibition was the centemporary art exhibits. I think my favorite piece in this exhibit was Gottfried Helnwein's "Untitled (The Disasters of War 10)," made in 2007. I really liked this piece because it carries similarities to the Greco-Roman style of art, where it carries a strength of realism and emotion portrayed through a human subject. But, although similar, Helnwein has a unique flavor in his piece that carries a sorrow and sense of weakness that isn't portrayed in the heroes of the Greco-Roman style. The soft, melancholy colours add to the feeling of sadness that the subject feels. Inspite of the general sadness that the character portrays, the character does not seem to be completely overwhelmed by despair: she still seems to have a reserve of strength that keeps her shoulders up.

The landscapes in displayed at the Crocker are almost perfectly beautiful. The detail, the suggestion of detail, the colours, the textures pushed me to the brink of tears. They were so beautiful. A lot of the landscapes that I remember were of mountains frosted in snow. The sight is a nostalgic one for me: it reminds me of home.

Some of the most gorgeous, breath-taking pieces I saw in the Crocker were the Greco-Roman, Neo-classical, and Romantic oil on canvas paintings. All of them were filled with such vitality. The emotions of the subjects were strong: you could practically feel what they were feeling. The life-like qualities of the subjects made it easy to relate to them, to see yourself in their shoes, no matter how heroic or mundane their situation.

My final destination in my two hour, whirlwind tour of the Crocker took me to the Asian art exhibits. While the pieces didn't carry the same emotion and strength of the European oil paintings, they did carry a charm all their own. The delicate nature of some of the pieces was enchanting, as was the case for the little musicians and dancing girls. While far less enchanting and endearing, the Japanese samurai armour was a sight to behold. The strength of colour, the care of assembly, the precision of the pieces of the armour all added up to an amazing presentation. Japanese samurai have always fascinated me, so it was an exciting thing to see a suit of armour up close and in person.

My visit to the Crocker was certainly a wonderful, if brief, experience. I hope to visit there again, but plan to spend longer to maximize my enjoyment of the exhibits.

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

The title of this blog might have confused more than a few of you. Surely science and art do not mix? One is based on logic, reason, and defined laws of reality. The other, emotion, feeling, and personal aesthetic. Knowing this, it seems ridiculous that there can exist such a being as a Mad Scientist Artist. Yet, such a thing does exist, and I happen to be one.

To give you some background, I have been drawing since I was old enough to hold a pencil, which isn't truly remarkable, but I've stuck with it. Now, I'm 21, enrolled in a BFA program with several possible art internships in my future. I paint, draw, sculpt, animate, model, and photograph. I also write, but that's a part-time hobby. You name it, I can do it.

Excellent, you say. You are clearly an artist. Not a mad scientist.

Allow me to continue, then.

When I was in the seventh grade, my dad tried an experiment. The experiment was: can Amaryllis learn Trigonometry, Geometry, and Algebra I in one year? The answer was yes. Yes, she can. I then proceeded to complete Calculus for my sweet 16.

I've been raised around computers my whole life. When I was about 8, my parents got me my first computer. Not a Win 98 box like most people had at the time, but a Commodore 64, an older computer from the '80s. It had no GUI (graphical user interface), just lots and lots of text. So, naturally, I had to learn how to program. As any good computer addict knows, programming is a gateway drug. First, you make the computer say, 'hi,' then you make a little, text-based RPG, you slowly progress into graphics, and then you start programming robots for world domination. Fortunately for you, my robots are still in the prototype phase.

By now, I hope I have convinced you as to my artistic and mad science abilities. You might now argue that I am one in a million, a freak with split personalities and conflicting interests. I won't deny it, but I don't think that I am all that unique, freakish traits aside.

When it really comes down to it, what is art, really? I believe that it is nothing more than strategic, carefully chosen placement of colours, shapes, and lines designed to capture or inspire an emotion. To be a truly great artist, you have to have a reason for the structure and look of your piece; there must be an underlying rationality to it, a reason for its being, or it is nothing more than the scribbles of a well-intentioned child.

Likewise, science is a result of humans needing to express a thought or idea through lines, shapes, and words. And it takes creativity to organize the shapes and lines into something meaningful. Otherwise, the lines and shapes are nothing more than tools, sitting around collecting dust.

So are art and science really so different? Can the too really never mix? Or is the separation as arbitrary as the color of a pencil? I'll let you decide.

Featured Artists and Mad Scientists

Kellen Dyer

Mark Graybill

Formerly an Aerospace engineer (rocket scientist), Mark is another example of an artist/mad scientist hybrid. He currently draws a comic about Clay, an engineer fresh out of college, and his new job at a low-tech rocket plant.
View his comic.

Ken Crawford

An amateur astronomer, sharing his love of astronomy through astrophotography.
View his site.

About Me

Hello from the wonderful land of Califonia! I'm Amaryllis and if I had to describe myself in one sentence, I would say:"I'm a mad scientist trapped in an artist's body."

I say this because I am enamored of art and science. In my free time, I build robots, electrical circuits, maintain my personal server, and program. I also paint, draw, do 3D modeling, write, and ocassionally tap dance.

I'm a part-time artist and web developer. You can see my website here:ninjaobsessed.comI'm currently working on several comics and a few contract web dev jobs.

I do art commissions and take web development contract jobs. If you're interested, feel free to drop me a line!

A little more about me: I've been drawing cartoons and comics since I was at least 2 years old, if not earlier. My favorite television shows are Teen Titans, Young Justice, Xiaolin Showdown, Invader Zim, and Venture Bros. I love reading as my schedule allows. Mostly science fiction or non-fiction. Two of my favorite artists are Jhonen Vasquez and Frank Miller. Jhonen is probably my #1 favorite, since most of my art seems to be based on his style.